I found this is in my oil today...

I changed the oil in my 2006 3.2L Boxster S this morning. The oil had been in the car for 14 months and 14,000 miles. Total mileage on the car is 25,442. I found this little bit in my drain pan as I was cleaning up. It feels metallic but is very brittle...it was in one piece when I found it and it broke apart as I handled it. There is a chance that it was debris that was in my drain pan before I even started, but I don't think so. Luckily I had taken an oil sample that I will be sending off to Blackstone Labs this week for UOA, which may help paint a picture of what is going on in my engine, I hope. Thoughts? Thanks, Matt

I wish my Cayman gave me money when I changed it's oil!:hilarious: Seriously, I hope there is nothing wrong with the car. Keep us posted on the oil analysis.

I don't like the looks of that. Did you include some of the bits in you sample?

I am guessing but the color and your description looks like varnish. Conventional oils left varnish deposits in engines. I never heard of a synthetic leaving varnish deposits. The oil analisys will be the answer. Keep us posted.

I think they are chips implanted during the alien abduction.

See if a magnet will attract the pieces. That way you can verify if it is indeed metal.

I personally change my synthetic oil yearly for my cars that sit and no more than 7500 miles of use. BMW as an example has their oil changes as part of the sale of the cars. These get performed as service 1 or 2 at every 15k miles. BMW had been experiencing many rod bearing failures along with lifters and cam wear. This was attributed to scaling build up in the engine. This was like having plaque in your arteries breaking away and then plug or starve a vital part of your body. BMW then started to have all Pre owned cars go through an inspection that would remove the Valve cover to inspect for this build up. Should a car that was maintained by their standards show signs of build up they could not be Pre owned certified. I should add that BMW warranty uses their own packaged synthetic.

"Klaatu Barrada Nikto."

Scott, Interesting. I just wasn't able to buy into BMW's change interval because it just didn't seem right by everything I know. They don't go by mileage but by a service computer reading that presumably takes how it's driven into account. My X5 indicates oil changes at around 18,000 miles. Your info makes me happy to say I've been going with changes at 6 to 7,000 miles. Even at 10 qts of synthetic oil plus the filter it seemed like cheap insurance. If my dealer recommendations are any indication the packaged synthetic is Castrol Syntec 5W-30.

Scott, to answer your quiz question I believe the most wear occurs at the exhaust valve/valve guide area followed by the upper cylinder areas.

Good guess . Perhaps you may want to clarify upper cylinder areas. I did give a clue in the standard oil longevity.

Piston rings!!

Yes!! Piston rings to their given cylinder composition are the highest wear area for contaminate. Or use to be ? Now thats what I like a quick and accurate answer! . I had written an article in the Pano about a year ago that stated it took up to 60 seconds for oil to reach all the crucial areas. I received many replies from individuals that they find it only to take less than 15 sec or so. This is true for the oil system that is monitored by the pressure sender. Piston rings are not pressure monitored for oil so hence the 60 sec.. This was with lower cold viscosity oils such as 30, 20w- 50 etc. Then again the article was on why the Mobil 1 0w-40 or 5w-40 was better than older fossil oils. Another article was released later in the Pano that was well written yet used 30 year old data on a certain additive. Any other takers on what the additive was or what the Synthetics were said to lack? A clue is it was added in the 50's for cam wear. Best, Scott

I tested the material and it is not magnetic. A poster on PPBB suggested it might be a bit of one of the chain guides, which are made of a ceramic material that happens to be glossy. The photo doesn't show it, but the material I have is definitely glossy. Right now, my best theory is that this is a tiny bit of one of the chain guides.

OK this thread may be getting away from the initial post, or is it? Oils changed to multi viscosities such as 20w-50 from the 50's yet why? These were considered advancements. They also added detergents? Why and what are they trying to gain or get to?

Don't forget that not all metals are magnetic! In fact I think I would be correct to say most aren't. Aluminum and 300 series stainless steels aren't for example.

Could be multiple answers to each but I'll venture that the multi-viscosities are to optimize lubrication at temperature extremes (especially cold starts) yet minimize frictional losses. Detergents were added to control the buildup of carbon deposits and varnishes, especially in hotter areas. Detergents can also act as a buffer/neutralizer in acting against acids that are formed as part of the combustion cycle, thereby mitigating corrosion.

I'm used to looking for contaminants in the oil in the "Parts-Per-Million" category, so your picture scared the hell out of me! Certainly does not appear to be a shellac, as someone suggested. Oil analysis is still the best blood test, but a caution about Synthetic oil. Just because it says "Synthetic" on the label, doesn't indicate anything about the quality. Even the API can't agree on what a synthetic is, other than a marketing term. Personally, I am very unimpressed with the Castrol product, as I am with the synthetics from Quaker State, Pennzoil, or any other of what I refer to to as Wal-Mart type oils. These products are so mass produced that they simply cannot have the quality control you should expect to justify the higher price over their conventional oils. This has been verified by the SAE itself in very involved random testing of off the shelf and jobber supplied products country wide. As I have stated on here so many times that people are probably sick of reading it, is that if you really value that $70,000 toy you are so devoted to, put the highest quality, best performing oil you can possibly get your hands on, and quit trying to save money on the oil. Invest in Oil Analysis if you want to extend your drain interval, don't extend it simply because your quart of oil says Synthetic on the label, or because the "Service due" light hasn't come on yet. Remember, as important as the lubricant is, it still is about the cheapest component of a Porsche engine.

Actually there's enough iron in most 300 series stainless steel varieties to be weakly magnetic. 50 to 75% approximately depending on the variety. Enough to get caught on chip plugs usually. Won't exactly snap to a magnet but most will stick weakly.

True, but not enough to be called 'magnetic'. In the cast form, magnetism is negligible, when cold formed it starts developing some magnetic properties, but then those can be removed through annealing. A special case when it comes to magnetism I think we would both agree. Thanks for the clarification though - I had to look that data up to clarify how your comments applied. This most likely explains the drain plug example you stated - either the plug was forged then then had the threads cut or some combination thereof. Now I can quit posting because I learned something today! :dance:

Happy I could provoke some thought. It surprises most people. I just know about from getting to explain to multiple service reps and aircraft owners that yes the lab results really are right. You really could have nothing but a bit of 300 SS on the detector. Porsche used to put chip plugs, mag plug, debris collectors whatever you want to call them in the sump drains. My CS at least doesn't have one. Don't know whether for cost or not having clearance for the magnet that is swaged into the plug to stick up into the sump. It was sorta handy to tell on a rough basis what kind of stuff ones engine was making. Fine fuzz is pretty normal. Big chunks is time to worry . And for the OP it's real hard to tell just looking at a photo but if that piece is thin and plastic it could be nothing more than molding flash from one of the multiple plastic bits Porsche is using now. If it's worrisome getting it and the oil analyzed is a way forward.